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Sunday, January 1, 2012

Thoughts After Reading: This was a fun twist on the "spinster" storyline. Although the heroine is initially considered dowdy and in her twenties, she is not a retiring wallflower. Instead, her amicable nature and intelligence means that nearly everyone considers her a friend and she rares lacks for a dance partner. Unfortunately for the heroine, however, everyone thinks of her as "just a friend" - nobody seems to have a romantic interest in her. Until the hero steps in, of course ;). Another unique aspect is the book is that the hero is not a rake, but rather a gentleman captain who is disgusted with the ton's propensity to have affairs. He also happens, naturally, to be exceedingly handsome.

At the beginning of the book, we get a cameo appearance of the prince regent as he requests the captain's assistance in a secret investigation. The heroine, an earl's daughter, is asked to help the captain navigate the ton and they begin a fake engagement. The entire transition is fairly plausible, and the storyline takes off from there. The hero and heroine fall gradually in love (I was surprised to find that this was a clean historical romance). There is also the expected: kidnapping, villain, final showdown, overcoming of the obstacle in the relationship, and happy ending :). I enjoyed it.